The OrgReg Facility

OrgReg is a public facility, which provides a comprehensive register of public-sector research and higher education organizations in European countries. It is a public resource whose main function is to allow integrating different RISIS datasets at the level of actors through the definition of a common list of organizations and the use of organizational IDs that are used consistently in the RISIS datasets providing data at the level of organizational actors.

Country coverage

OrgReg covers all 28 European Union member states, EEA-EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), as well as candidate countries (FYRM, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey).

Organizational coverage

OrgReg covers organizations that are not exclusively market-oriented, corresponding to the government, higher education and private non profit organizations in the Frascati manual. Private (market-oriented) organizations will be covered in the parallel firms register (FirmReg).

More precisely, the following types of organizations are covered.

Higher Education Institutions (HEI).

Public Research Organizations (PRO).

Research Hospitals (RH).

Public Administration Research Units (PA).

Private Non-Profit research Organizations (PNP).

Coverage is focused on those organizations displaying some level of research and educational output, as measured by tertiary education degrees, publications and European Framework Programme projects.

Time coverage

OrgReg covers the period from 2000 to 2016, meaning that all public-sector entities that existed within this period of time are included, covering also all the related demographic events.

Variables and indicators

For each entity included in the register, OrgReg provides the following information:

An unambiguous and stable (over time) identifier for the entity (ID).

Demographic information, including foundation and closure year and a tracking of demographic events (for example mergers between entities).

The legal and the English name of the entity and its changes over time.

A set of characteristics of the entities, including the website, country of establishment, the entity type and level (group, organization, component). These characteristics can change over time.

A set of geographical locations for the entity, including postcode, city name, geographical coordinates and NUTS 3-level codes. At least the location of the main seat will be included, but the register is set in principle to cover also other locations (for example multi-location campuses).

Access and conditions of usage

Distant access to OrgReg data is possible within RISIS through the CorTexT authentication system. Users can create a CorTexT account here and accept the RISIS code and conduct for usage of data. Afterwards, users can access the OrgReg data through orgreg.joanneum.at by selecting the Register tab on the top of the page.

Data downloaded from Orgreg are subject to the RISIS Code of Conduct. In particular, following conditions of usage are crucial:

They can be used solely for purposes of scientific research. Any use for commercial purposes, like the provision of for-paying services, is excluded.

Data have to be published in a way, which makes impossible the identification of the specific entity considered and the attribution of a cell value to that entity.

Future developments

Further expansion of the Orgreg facility is foreseen in the future in two directions: expanding the register outside Europe, with a priority in the US, a developing sub-registers providing additional data on specific types of organizations, with a priority on PROs (alongside the already existing RISIS-ETER facility for HIEs).

Reports and working papers

Detailed information on OrgReg can be found in the following documents:

The OrgReg Facility report, which provides a general overview of the OrgReg design, structure and content.

The OrgReg handbook, which provides detailed methodological guidance on the register.